Tea party Republicans arrived in Washington seven years ago with a clear, loud message from angry voters: Slash spending. But once again, spending is going way up.

‚ÄúPart of our job right now (is) that we keep pounding that Republicans still stand for fiscal responsibility,‚ÄĚ said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who chairs the House Republican Study Committee, a coalition of conservatives.

But he was on the losing side as the House early Friday cleared a massive two-year spending package that President Donald Trump quickly signed into law. Sixty-seven Republicans voted against the two-year budget plan that became law Friday, but 167 voted yes....

Robert Reich wrote:America has had its share of crooks (Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon), bigots (Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan), and incompetents (Andrew Johnson, George W. Bush). But never before Donald Trump have we had a president who combined all these nefarious qualities.

These were not just ethical lapses. They directly undermined the common good by reducing the public‚Äôs trust in the office of the president. As the New York Times editorial board put it in June 2017, ‚Äúfor Mr. Trump and his circle, what matters is not what‚Äôs right but what you can get away with. In his White House, if you‚Äôre avoiding the appearance of impropriety, you‚Äôre not pushing the boundaries hard enough.‚ÄĚ

Wikipedia wrote:Harding appointed a number of friends and acquaintances to federal positions. Some served competently, such as Charles E. Sawyer, the Hardings' personal physician from Marion who attended to them in the White House. Sawyer alerted Harding to the Veterans' Bureau scandal. Others proved ineffective in office, such as Daniel R. Crissinger, a Marion lawyer whom Harding made Comptroller of the Currency and later a governor of the Federal Reserve Board; or Harding's old friend, Director of the Mint Frank Scobey, who Trani and Wilson noted "did little damage during his tenure". Harding's brother-in-law Heber H. Votaw, superintendent of federal prisons, was unable to root out the drug trade from within the facilities. Others of these associates proved corrupt and were later dubbed the "Ohio Gang". [ ]

Ylan Mui wrote:The new bipartisan spending deal from Congress only exacerbates the problem. According to the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, deficits will top $1 trillion next year under that agreement and could reach $2.1 trillion by 2027 if it becomes permanent and U.S. interest payments rise.

Outside groups such as Heritage Action and FreedomWorks have also decried the measure.

"Grassroots conservatives are used to getting the status quo from politicians who say they stand for fiscal responsibility, but this is beyond the pale," FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon said in a statement. "Republican leadership has broken with the status quo and is taking giant steps toward fiscal insanity."

Eugene Scott wrote:midnight Thursday to mark his opposition to an estimated $320 billion addition to the federal budget deficit ‚ÄĒ something he called Republicans out for supporting: ‚ÄúIf you were against President Obama's deficits, and now you're for the Republican deficits, isn't that the very definition of hypocrisy?‚ÄĚ

Paul, known for his libertarian leanings, said the budget deal breaks past Republican pledges to rein in federal spending.

After GOP leaders refused to allow Paul to offer an amendment, he chose to use a Senate rule that allows individual senators to slow down proceedings that require the consent of all.

‚ÄúI can‚Äôt in all good honesty, in all good faith, just look the other way because my party is now complicit in the deficits,‚ÄĚ he said on the Senate floor.

One of the halfwits quoted by Jim Linkin said, ‚ÄúThere are two theories of government. One theory of government is that government should do things to benefit the wealthy and there‚Äôs another theory of government, which is that the government should do things to maximize the prosperity of the greatest number of people and that will make us a healthy, vibrant democracy."There's a third theory of government that says government should get heck out of the way and, to the maximum extent possible, leave us all alone. We can redistribute our own wealth as we see fit; don't need a bunch of socialist thieves to do it for us.

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Fredric Bastiat "The Law"

James Thomas wrote:Isn't that the motto on the back of the global warming shirt?

We but did not take it to heart to listen. We awed in disbelief. Now we mourn. Our officials are like clouds without water. Their consciences are seared and (their) thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Rom 2:15)Their throat (is) an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (Rom 3:13)When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked rule, the people mourn (Pro 29:2). Even though they were not heard, their expressions tell the story in this best selling book:‚ÄúUnPresidented: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump and the People's Response 2017‚ÄĚ by Joe Newman and Shamila N. Chaudhary

Jim Lincoln wrote:‚ÄúThere are those who believe that if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below,‚ÄĚ [William Jennings]Bryan proclaimed. ‚ÄúThe Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them.‚ÄĚEdward T. O'Donnell, Historian: Bryan says, ‚ÄúThere are two theories of government. One theory of government is that government should do things to benefit the wealthy and there‚Äôs another theory of government, which is that the government should do things to maximize the prosperity of the greatest number of people and that will make us a healthy, vibrant democracy.

The constitution grants the power of social engineering through taxation to the federal government?

Last I checked, the legislative branch was the voice of the people and we have spoken. Deal with it.

American Experience PBS wrote:...And neither the sitting President nor the United States Congress appeared willing to mitigate the suffering.

‚ÄúThere are those who believe that if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below,‚ÄĚ [William Jennings]Bryan proclaimed. ‚ÄúThe Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them.‚ÄĚ

Edward T. O'Donnell, Historian: Bryan says, ‚ÄúThere are two theories of government. One theory of government is that government should do things to benefit the wealthy and there‚Äôs another theory of government, which is that the government should do things to maximize the prosperity of the greatest number of people and that will make us a healthy, vibrant democracy.